Doug Franz 2013 College Football Playoff – Week 1

In case you don’t know from the things I’ve said on air. I hate the BCS but I don’t have a problem with the BCS formula. I just don’t want it used to narrow the field from 125 to two.

Although I’m thrilled we will have a four-team playoff next year. I’ve always wanted a 16-team playoff. I’m not being greedy because the new system will be so much better than the BCS. I just want to implement some of the greatness of March Madness while rewarding conference champions.

I put before you the Doug Franz College Football Playoff. The “DFCFP” makes every non-conference game vital to each conference because each game determines conference strength. Conference strength determines conference rank versus the other conferences. The DFCFP improves on the NCAA basketball tournament because teams don’t get in the playoff just by winning their conference. They have to win one of the conferences ranked in the top eight (as opposed to the NCAA basketball tournament where every conference champion is in).

Every week the BCS rankings change, therefore changing the teams making the playoff. Once the regular season standings are complete, it will be up to you to pick the winners of each game and set in motion the championship challenge.

If you want an explanation for the way my formula works, check the bottom of the blog.

Here’s the playoff pairings:

16) Louisiana-Lafeyette at 1) Alabama

15) Ball State at 2) Florida State

14) UCF at 3) Oregon

13) LSU at 4) Ohio STate

12) UCLA at 5) Missouri

11) Auburn at 6) Stanford

10) Texas Tech at 7) Miami

9) Clemson at 8) Baylor

OBSERVATIONS:

I’ve been doing this playoff format for over 10 years and the SEC always dominates, but it’s different this year. Although the SEC earned four teams to lead the playoff, the conference isn’t close to it’s normal separation since the ACC and Pac-12 have three.

I won’t argue that a four-team playoff with the top-four seeds looks great but if I get LSU vs. Ohio State, in my system, I win.

Right now, there’s two conference games in the second round if the seeds hold. It will change every week, though.

I would love to see the second round game of Baylor’s offense at Alabama.

The key for this playoff is it also keeps teams playing hard throughout the season. No resting starters like the NFL. Look at the difference between the 4-8 seeds’ home games in the first round and the 1-3 seeds. I’m pretty sure, Oregon isn’t resting anyone with the risk of LSU being the first round opponent.

According to seeds, it would end up as ‘Bama/Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl and Florida State/Oregon in the Orange.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN:

By ranking every team 1-125, you get a true representation of the best conference by taking the average BCS rank of every team in the conference. This playoff system makes every college football game in the country vital because it rewards teams and conferences alike.

The conference champions need to be rewarded, administrators do not. I don’t want a system similar to men’s basketball when you make a conference, just wait and you get an automatic bid. In this system, conferences have to earn an automatic bid for their conference champion.

Here’s the ranking of the conferences after Week 1 of the BCS and the average BCS rank of the teams in the conference.

1) SEC: 34.36

2) Pac-12: 38.25

3) Big Ten: 47.33

4) Big 12: 48.6

5) ACC: 49.43

6) AAC: 72.5

7) Sun Belt: 81

8) MAC: 81.62

9) MWC: 83.92

10) C-USA: 89.79

CONFERENCE OBSERVATIONS:

The gap between the Pac-12 and the number one spot is the smallest I’ve ever seen. The gap between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten/Big 12 is the largest I’ve ever seen.
The magic of this playoff is how every game matters.

There’s only two spots left for three conference champions of the Sun Belt, MAC and Mountain West. Even your worst team could lose a non-conference game that drops your champ out of the playoff.

In the preseason, Bob Stoops wanted to whine how unfair it was people didn’t rank the Big 12 above the SEC. He needs to worry about the ACC passing him before he tries to take on the top conference.

Mountain West, what happened to you? Why did you re-accept Hawaii? They add a terrible travel expense and they rank #117. It wasn’t worth it. Your weak decision is costing Fresno State’s chance to make the playoff.
Conference USA is a sham. Every round of realignment, they raid the Sun Belt. Ever since massive conference realignment, the Sun Belt continually outranks C-USA.

PLAYOFF EXPLANATION:

The magic of the DFCFP is how it highlights the regular season more than any other system. Here’s the process for coming up with the teams for the playoff.

1) Rank all D-1 (FBS) teams 1-125 (from Alabama to Georgia State).

2) Rank all the conferences 1-10 based on the average BCS rank of the teams in the conference.

3) Reward the first place team in the top eight conferences with an automatic bid.

WEEK 1

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Ohio State

4. Texas Tech

5. Florida State

6. Central Florida

7. Louisiana-Lafayette

8. Ball State

4) Independents (this means you, Notre Dame) get no special treatment. If you’re not in a conference, earn a wild card bid or join a conference.

6) Rank the 16 teams based on BCS rank with no regard to status as an automatic qualifier or wild-card entry. The tournament would follow a bracket format. Although re-seeding would be a better way to reward the regular season, nothing is better than filling out a basketball bracket and I want that momentum and attention on college football.

7) First two rounds are at the home of the better seed.

8) Final Four games are played at a rotation among Fiesta, Cotton, Sugar, Rose.

9) Championship Game is hosted by the city that bid the most.

We wouldn’t have 35 bowl games anymore -— sorry Pinstripe Bowl -— but some of the big ones with tradition don’t have to go anywhere. If you’re an Arizona or Arizona State fan are you saying you wouldn’t go to the Holiday Bowl against Texas? You’d still get the benefit of extra practices to prepare for your bowl game. Players would still get to enjoy the goodies they receive for participating. As for the fans, we get a real champion.